How 5 Moms Kicked Their Worst Health Habits (and You Can, Too)

After decades of "Just Do It," women are discovering an even more powerful mantra: Do it for your kids. Meet four readers who made over their health for the sake of their children, and one 9-year-old girl who desperately wants her mom to do the same. Who will you do it for?

"I lost 110 pounds so I could play with my children again." — BECKY DANTO, 36

Weight-loss epiphanies can come from unexpected places. For Becky Danto of Pittsburgh, it wasn't the "271" staring back at her from the scale; it was her son's trampoline. When he unwrapped the toy on his 5th birthday, in January 2006, she saw that it had a weight limit of 300 pounds, which meant she couldn't jump on it at the same time as her boys. "I was not the role model my children deserved," she says. "I wasn't keeping up with my life. My kids would play around me, and all I wanted to do was eat, watch TV, and sleep. I had to change." So with the goal of bouncing by spring, Becky started going to Weight Watchers meetings and gave up junk food, like Doritos and buffalo wings, for healthy snacks like yogurt with frozen strawberries or Kashi crackers with Laughing Cow light cheese. (Check out her meal plan at redbookmag.com/eatright.) When her husband's deep fryer broke, Becky told him, "Have a funeral for that thing. You're not getting another one." And her boys kept her on track when temptation loomed: "Every time I reached for a cookie, Mikey said, 'If you have that cookie, can you still go on the trampoline with me?' I was like, 'No, I don't need the cookie.'" She shed 40 pounds in four months — enough to jump safely with both sons — and was ecstatic. But she was still 70 pounds away from her healthy goal weight, so she started getting up at 4:40 a.m. six days a week to run and lift weights for an hour before work. In 11 more months, Becky had slimmed down to 165 pounds, and she's maintained it for four years. "I laugh more, and I'm not so tired. The kids and I do things like play Wii or go camping," she says. And when she ran a half-marathon last year, her boys jogged part of it with her: "I love that they're excited to run with me. I feel like a better mom, a cool mom."

Between happy hours after work and parties on the weekends, Mir Lynne Pietrzyk of Estero, FL, was drinking up to 16 beers a week. Though that's more than double the healthy limit of seven drinks a week for women, Mir Lynne didn't think she was an alcoholic. Her habit did leave her feeling tired, so she began limiting herself to two drinks each on Friday and Saturday — and stuck with it until her son Reid's 13th birthday, a Sunday, when she had a few beers at a sports bar with her family. She felt so tipsy afterward that when Reid asked her to help him set up a Facebook account — a long-awaited birthday present — Mir Lynne blew up: "I didn't want to deal with it, and we got into a shouting match." When she sobered up, she says, she realized that "anyone who depends on drinking to relax is an alcoholic. If I hadn't had those drinks, I would have had more patience. Yelling at my son on his birthday was as much of a wake-up call as if I had gotten a DUI." After that, she gave up booze completely. Instead of happy hour, she now has game nights with friends, and at parties she sips juice in a festive glass. "This New Year's I was with my boys, enjoying conversation and watching the ball drop," she recalls. "It was so much better to be present in the moment and really enjoy talking to them."

Stress doesn't just make Amanda Griffith irritable or snappish with her husband and young daughters, ages 3 and 2 — it makes her physically ill. The Norton, MA, mom has ulcerative colitis, an autoimmune disorder that causes severe pain, cramping, bloating, diarrhea, and fatigue. And the more stressed Amanda gets about stuff like mounting deadlines for the public relations business she owns or potty-training her 3-year-old, the more likely she is to have a flare-up, which used to happen every three or four months. "This summer, the girls would try to jump on me and roughhouse, and I was in such pain I couldn't be around them," she says. "I thought, I've got to do something about this." She knew regular cardio exercise reduces stress, so she started jogging around the neighborhood a few days a week while a sitter watched her kids. "I never listened to music while I ran; I just used it as a time to clear my head and step out of my life for a few minutes," she says. She found that running those few miles helped keep her colitis flare-ups in check. "Even after just four weeks, I felt so much better. My friends noticed I was more positive and energized. Running recharges my batteries, and when I take care of myself, I'm better able to take care of my daughters and I actually look forward to playing with them instead of getting frustrated or annoyed. I still wrestle with the guilt of taking time away from them, but I hope my activity inspires them when they get older."

When Tamara Matos Hernandez, 34, of the Bronx, NY, was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2007, she was quick to get it under control by cleaning up her diet and walking every day. The payoff? She lost 30 pounds, she felt great, and her periods were regular for the first time in years. Soon she was pregnant. But after her son, Ricky, was born in 2008, Tamara was too busy to exercise and turned to comfort food to soothe her stress. Within months, her diabetes was back in full swing. She felt achy and fatigued, and struggled with blurred vision and nausea. "Here was this baby I'd been waiting for, and I wanted to enjoy him, but I couldn't," she says. So in March 2010, she met with her doctor and started keeping a food diary — even faxing it to him to keep herself accountable. "When we get takeout, I order broiled chicken instead of pizza," Tamara says. To squeeze in exercise, she dusted off her treadmill-turned-clothing rack and started logging a few miles every day. She's also taking medication and injecting herself with insulin to get her blood sugar in check. "I don't want Ricky to lose his mom," she says. "I want to dance at his wedding." She's lost 9 pounds so far, and her blood glucose tests are improving. "Looking at my son's face each day keeps me motivated," Tamara says. "He has a chance to never have to deal with this, and it's my job not only to help him make the right choices but to lead by example."

"You're my only parent, and smoking could kill you. Then where would I go?" — WYNTER MARTINEZ, AGE 9

That's the question 44-year-old Cynthia Martinez has heard over and over from her daughter, Wynter, since she picked up her pack-a-day habit in 2006. That was the year Cynthia's husband, Martin, died suddenly of a heart attack at age 38. The first thing Cynthia did was light a cigarette — even though she hadn't puffed in years. "I was standing outside the hospital making calls with a cigarette in my mouth," she recalls. Smoking has been her default stress-reliever ever since, as she's dealt with grief and learned to juggle a demanding job and single parenthood. Wynter, who was 4 when her dad died, is "scared as hell," Cynthia says. "I promised Wynter I'd quit smoking if she quit sucking her thumb. Well, she succeeded, but I didn't. Hearing her beg me to quit makes me feel two inches tall. I want to quit for good." Wynter told REDBOOK, "I think she can do it," and we agree! So we asked Michael Fiore, M.D., director of the Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine, to craft a no-fail plan for Cynthia. She's even keeping a video diary along the way (see it at redbookmag.com/formykids).

CYNTHIA'S QUIT PLAN:

1. Slap on the patch. It's not a cop-out: People who quit cold turkey have a 5 percent chance of success, but those who use counseling plus nicotine-replacement products like the patch, gum, or lozenges have up to a 50 percent chance of kicking the habit, Fiore says. When stress strikes, she can also pop an extra mini nicotine lozenge to battle cravings.

2. Trade cigarettes for exercise. Experts have offered up exercise as a way to reduce cravings for years, but now there's data to back that up: British researchers did brain scans of smokers and found that 10 minutes of exercise reduced the desire to puff for up to 15 hours. Thirty to 45 minutes of cardio three to five days a week will help ward off quit-related weight gain, too.

3. Reward yourself. In Chicago, where Cynthia lives, smokes are $10.50 a pack, which adds up to $3,800 a year. Fiore suggests putting the cash Cynthia is saving into a jar every day. She can use it to reward herself every week she's smoke-free, or save it for a nice vacation!